Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Day 26, Monday 10th March. Balladonia to Norseman

Day 26

Monday 10th March

Balladonia – Norseman

195kms

“Hey Rob, its 5am dude!” Harv said from outside the tent. We had both slept more than we had expected to. I jumped out of bed and we packed everything up. It wasn’t such a bad thing because it meant the roadhouse was now open again, and I could load myself with another $4 bowl of cereal before leaving. Harv was pretty impressed with how much cereal I ate in a short amount of time.

We were well slept, and both felt great. The wind was at our backs and the road was smooth. We smashed about 100kms easily without a break before having lunch. Riding through the Friaser Range, the hills were noticeable, but didn’t seem to be a drama before lunch.

After some noodles and a couple of sangas for lunch we got back on the bikees. The scenery was really beautiful. Now the roadside was thick with smooth golden looking trees that I am yet to discover the name of.There must have been a bushfire or some burning off done recently. Sectins of the bush were black, with fresh regrowth coming through.

All was going well for the day until about 50kms from Norseman. We both blew up and found it hard to ride at a pace over 10-15kms an hour. Harv had some energy gels in his bag, so we had a couple of those to kep us going, but it was still really hard work. I was once again sloched over the handle bars feeling like I wasn’t getting anywhere at all. The last 30kms was the hardest and longest part of the ride, but we made it to Norseman finally with some time to spare.

Once again we had ice cream, before hitting the bottle shop for a couple of drinks to celebrate. Finally we had made it over he Nullarbor. We set up camp at the Caravan Park and then spent a fair bit off time calling our mates on the phone because we now had some phone reception. It was so good to talk to some mates, and let them know how we are.

Dinner time came and we decided it was definitely time to get a good meal away from a roadhouse. So we went to a place just across from the Caravan Park. But to our disappointment the kitchen was closed and we had to settle for some more Roadhouse food.